Category: Watch

DC Superhero Girls: Hero of the Year – DVD Review

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the DVD I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.

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It’s time to get your cape on with the girls at Super Hero High in the all-new animated movie, DC Superhero Girls: Hero of the Year! Much like other re-imaginings of pop culture figures, Hero of the Year brings together female superheroes and super villains from the DC Comics universe.

Alongside heroes Batgirl, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, and Katana we have the likes of Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy attending classes with them. It’s a pretty creative concept that works well and brings these strong female characters together for an action-packed animated adventure.

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During the week of the annual Hero of the Year awards show, a shape-shifting baddie named Dark Opal creates a cacophony of chaos for our collection of super kids. Together, they must work as a united force to stop Dark Opal and his apocalyptic scheme before he destroys the world and ruins the awards show. Will the girls resolve this crisis before it’s too late?

DC Superhero Girls: Hero of the Year is an entertaining animated film that showcases Girl Power in all its awesome glory. There are plenty of references and nods to other DC stories and characters, plus look for cameos from the likes of Commissioner Gordon, Lois Lane, Amanda Waller, Hal Jordan (Green Lantern), and The Flash.

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Along with the film we get a selection of seven short vignettes revolving around the girls of Super Hero High. They include:

All About Super Hero High

Fall into Super Hero High

Hero of the Month: Poison Ivy

Clubbing

Hero of the Month: Bumblebee

Saving the Day

Hero of the Month: Wonder Woman

For some action-packed, family-friendly, girl-power, superhero fun, I recommend DC Superhero Girls: Hero of the Year on DVD August 23, 2016!

Who’s your favorite female superhero? Leave a comment and let us know!

11 Minutes – DVD Review

11 Minutes

A lot can happen in the span of eleven minutes and in the film, 11 Minutes, a lot definitely happens. Eleven minutes at first glance appears to be a short period of time, and yet so much activity and life-changing events can take place over the course of an eleven-
minute time frame that the thought of it is pretty intense.

In the film, 11 Minutes, we are presented with a broad array of seemingly innocuous and unrelated events happening all across the city. Some are mundane activities, while others are in themselves compelling and alter the lives of those directly involved. However, the film’s chronology is encapsulated all within the same eleven minutes, which leads to a collusion of events at the climax of the film.

11 Minutes is a clever metaphor for life as we know it. While what we’re doing, thinking, working for, and reacting to is uniquely from our perspective there are millions of other people living life and doing the exact same things in any given time frame. Sometimes our lives intertwine with others around us, other times we pass them by as nameless, faceless beings sharing the same space.

Whatever happens, we are collectively connected by one singularity: Time. And when our lives within that shared time connect, intersect, or clash is when we realize that we are never truly alone in this human experience.

Also, keep your eyes peeled for the number “11” in its various incarnations throughout the film. Can you spot them all?

For a unique narrative experience, check out 11 Minutes on DVD today.

Sky – DVD Review

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Road trip movies have been a part of film since the beginning. From Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in their Road to… films, to Thelma & Louise, Planes, Trains, & Automobiles, Due Date, Road Trip, Euro Trip, and more, the road trip movie can be filled with conflict, wacky adventures, and self-discovery. Comedy road movies tend to shove opposites together for maximum comedic conflict, while dramas veer toward a more introspective, change-centered tone.

Sky presents the latter style of road movie, with our hero Romy (Diane Kruger) taking a rather rocky journey toward her own pathway toward renewal and personal evolution. She’s a French woman who finds herself alone in the United States, a woman doing what she can to live life to the fullest even when things seem bleakest. For the bulk of the story, Romy is on the road by herself and for herself.

Romy’s newfound freedom is a catalyst for the change she has so desperately needed in her life after years in a lifeless marriage. It is through her travels, the people she meets, and her uniquely American experiences that she begins to realize who she truly is as a human being and as a woman.

Along the way, she meets an array of characters that invite this wandering stranger into their lives and even into their hearts. Will Romy find the kind of life and love she has been yearning for?

With a solid supporting cast that includes Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead), Lou Diamond Phillips (Longmire), Lena Dunham (Girls), and Joshua Jackson (Dawson’s Creek), Sky delivers a powerful message that it’s never too late to start your life anew no matter they circumstances you find yourself in.

Sky is available now on DVD.

What’s your favorite road trip movie? Leave a comment and let us know!

Supergirl: The Complete First Season – Blu-ray Review

Supergirl: The Complete First Season

DISCLAIMER: Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post. The opinions I share are my own.

Thoroughly entertaining, exciting, and enjoyable, the first season of Supergirl hits the ground running – or air flying? – proving once again that DC has the magic touch when it comes to bringing their characters to life for TV viewers. Whether it’s Arrow, The Flash, or Legends of Tomorrow, DC’s television division has done a tremendous job creating an interconnected world of superheroes much like the success Marvel has had with their Avengers cinematic universe.

Supergirl delivers a strong female superhero lead in Kara Danvers (Melissa Benoist), who is not only a former resident of the now-destroyed planet Krypton but is also Superman’s cousin. Residing in National City, Kara does her best to live a normal life until a potential tragedy causes her to leap out of the shadows and save the day, thus becoming Supergirl. Torn between living a normal life and being the superhero National City needs, Kara does her best to find a balance, which can be a tricky task.

Each episode showcases Kara’s ongoing quest to adapt to her newfound lifestyle as a superhero and learning about her powers and abilities. Along the way, we are treated some solid action sequences, some intriguing plot twists, and a whole slew of villains that Kara finds herself tasked with stopping both human and otherworldly.

With a solid supporting cast that includes Calista Flockhart, Mehcad Brooks, Chyler Leigh, Jeremy Jordan, and David Harewood, Supergirl is great superhero entertainment that will have you glued to the TV from the pilot to the exciting season finale!

Special features include:

Supergirl: 2015 Comic-Con Panel

The Man From Mars

A World Left Behind

Gag Reel

So, be like a bird, a plane, Superman, or Supergirl and fly out to own Supergirl: The Complete First Season on Blu-ray, DVD & Digital HD August 9, 2016!

Who is your favorite female superhero? Leave a comment and let us know!

Mother’s Day – Blu-ray Review

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Director Garry Marshall is an icon of classic American TV. For decades, his creations entertained and provided laughter to millions with the 50s-based sitcom, Happy Days and it’s multitude of spin-offs that included Laverne & Shirley, Joanie Loves Chachi, and Mork & Mindy. He also helped develop the Neil Simon play The Odd Couple into a what would become another classic TV series of the 70s.

Along with this impressive list of shows, Marshall also directed the Julia Roberts/Richard Gere hit Pretty Woman, The Princess Diaries and its sequel, Runaway Bride, and most recently the holiday-themed flicks Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve, and his final film, Mother’s Day.

Sadly, Marshall passed away in July of 2016, but his body of work will live on in his memory. His final directing endeavor, Mother’s Day, reunited him once again with long-time collaborator Julia Roberts along with an impressive list of comedic actors including Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson, Jason Sudeikis, and Margo Martindale.

The film centers around a chaotic week for all involved leading up to the mom-centric day that was proclaimed an official holiday by President Woodrow Wilson in 1914. What follow is a series of interwoven narratives – each one with a connection to the others – that eventually collide in a heartwarming finale that is befitting of a film with motherly love as its driving force.

While I’m not generally a fan of these types of movies, there are some genuinely funny moments that had me laughing out loud, and with such a talented cast it’s hard not to enjoy Mother’s Day for its ability to bring great actors together.

Chief among them are Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis who have appeared together in Horrible Bosses, Horrible Bosses 2, and We’re the Millers. They have fantastic on-screen chemistry, and I wish they would do a rom-com together along the same lines as a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan film like Sleepless in Seattle or You’ve Got Mail (something original, please. No need to remake either film, and besides You’ve Got Mail is already a remake of the film The Shop Around the Corner).

Also of note is the storyline involving Kate Hudson and Margo Martindale who plays her hardcore right-wing mama from Texas. Martindale is a hoot in the role, and the entire situation involving Hudson’s character, her sister (played by Sarah Chalke), and their families is pretty amusing.

Mother’s Day has something for everyone and if you’re looking for a film that’s safe to watch with your mom, this one is pretty tame and won’t leave you scrambling for the remote or the mute button.

Special features include Deleted Scenes and a Gag Reel.

For some mom-friendly entertainment, check out Mother’s Day on DVD, Blu-ray, and Digital Download now!

Rushlights: New Unrated Director’s Cut – Movie Review

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Small towns are full of big secrets. Sometimes those secrets are known but not talked about. Other times they are known by a few who are willing to lie, cheat, and kill to keep them under wraps. But what happens when new elements begin enter the picture and those secrets are on the verge of causing chaos where it once lay dormant?

Rushlights begins innocently enough as a love story and quickly evolves into a noir-style thriller with plenty of twists, turns, and double-crosses to keep the audience on their toes. Our two heroes – Sarah and Billy (Haley Webb and Josh Henderson) – are two damaged souls who find solace in each other’s company. When the tragic end befalls a close acquaintance, they work together to take advantage of the situation.

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Both soon find themselves snagged in a web of small town secrets, greed, and corruption that they never saw coming. Will they do the right thing or do whatever they can do survive?

The moral ambiguity of all the characters in Rushlights reminded me of the characters on AMC’s Breaking Bad. While a lot of their actions and behaviors are reprehensible, you can’t help but root for them to achieve their goals no matter the cost. Will they get away with it? Will they be found out? Will double-crosses ensue? There’s plenty of that going on throughout the film that makes the story all the more intriguing.

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Along with Webb and Henderson, Rushlights stars acting heavyweights Beau Bridges as the overzealous sheriff and Aidan Quinn as his lawyer brother. Both bring a level of gravitas to the film and help give it that dark, small-town-full-of-secrets feel.

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Rushlights is an intriguing crime-drama/murder-mystery/noir-thriller that keeps you guessing to the very last frame. I highly recommend it.

Rushlights: New Unrated Director’s Cut is streaming on iTunes, Amazon, Google Play, Vudu, Sony X-Box and more!